BRADSHAW MAKES POLITICAL HAY OF SUPREME COURT HEALTH RULING, SMEARS ADELA IN CRASS CASH APPEAL

By Juan Montoya
The other day I was coming out of the municipal court on Levee Street and I ran into local gadfly and former city commissioner candidate Roman Perez.
Roman is one of those Brownsville residents peculiar to our city who has an opinion on most anything. In fact, he was one of those commenters at city hall back in the mists of time when the city would allow the public's comments to be aired. Folks the likes of Fernando Ruiz, Dagoberto Barrera, the Rev. Alex Resendez and Roman were the weekly fare on the public cable channel.
Opinionated? Somethat.
Well, Roman was walking in the door as I was on the way to the parking lot and after a greeting with a wave, reemerged from the door and asked me why I would be supporting Adela Garza instead of Jessica Puente Bradshaw in the Republican Party runoff. Now, I must confess that I am a moderate Democrat and generally vote in that party's primary. Come November, I vote for whom I think is the right candidate, Democrat, Republican, Independent or Libertarian.

Now, I didn't know Bradshaw from Eve until she ran for the newly-created Congressional District 34 that used to be District 27 and held for the better part of 28 years by Solomon Ortiz. I must confes that I didn't vote for Ortiz, and votes like mine helped Blake Frenthold upset the Corpus Christi perennial.

I haven't regretted that yet. I feel the same way about having voted for Tony Garza when he was facing former Cameron County Judge Ray Ramon. At the time, four out of the five sitting Democratic county commissioners endorsed Tony over Ray. We all had our reasons. I don't regret voting and campaigning for Tony, either.

Well, to say Roman is opinionated is an understatement. He questioned how I could support Adela against Bradshaw. And to prove his bipartisanship, he said he wasn't supporting Alex Torres in his race against Eddie Lucio III, citing some educational qualification shortcoming on the part of Mr. Torres.

Again, I have no love for Torres, but in light of the sorry track record that his self-serving daddy Texas Sen. Eddie Lucio has compiled, I could not vote for E-3 to continue the political bloodline that has so callously sucked the very lifeblood out of our political and representative system. 

To tell you the truth, if I was voting in the Republican, I would ask what kind of public service the community has received from Adela or Bradshaw.  

All we know about Bradshaw is that she comes down to Cameron County every two years when there is a congressional race. The rest of the time she spends in Austin, where she has her home and family and where – until 2012 – she is registered to vote. That and the fact that she is a vocal member of the anti-immigrant Tea Party (a kind of 21st Century Know-Nothing), round out her qualifications. In fact, when she ran an ad in the local daily she claimed to be a "Brownsville native," when it is a well-known fact that she was born in Matamoros. In other words, she lied hoping that the Matamoros stigma wouldn't hurt her chances to garner votes from local residents.

On the other hand, Adela has never denied her Mexican roots. Most of our local families have roots in Mexican ancestry and it's only logical since this area until some 168 yeara ago was Mexican territory.

Aside from that, Adela has actually served in many local boaord without pay.

These are boards like the non-partisan Los Fresnos CISD Board of Trustees, the Cameron County Irrigation District Board, the Texas Council of Community, the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Centers, and the Healthy Communities of Brownsville.

"Those boards make decisions that affect our rsidents and community immediately," she said. "There is no other reward than of having served your community. There is no fame, no glory. These positions are not stepping stones to anything. It's tiring, frustrating and time-consuming. But, it's very rewarding because you know that you have made a positive difference in the quality of life in your community." 

Nowhere was this more proven than in the separation of the Texas Southmost College Community District adn the UT System. For two decades, the UT System had used the district as a cash cow and as a taxing entity while compiling a dismal academic track record. She has been a member of the TSC board of trustees since 2008 and finally garnered a majority to throw off the UT System yoke and keep a strong community college system in Cameron County.

Not enough for you Roman?

How about the fact that Garza is also a businesswoman who along with her husband, Faustino, own Tino’s Prescription Shop, a small pharmacy in Brownsville that provides employment for local people. She is also a member of Lord of Divine Mercy Catholic Church, where she co-chairs the Building Committee.
Like the majority of South Texas residents, Adela grew up in a working class family where she learned the values of faith, education, hard work and strong family values. With her strong commitment to veterans, fiscal responsibility the rights of the unborn, and state's rights, she would seem the obvious choice.

But what is Bradshaw sending out to GOP voters?

In her latest pitch for campaign donations, she is sounding the alarm ove the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare, trying to tap into the righteous anger of the conservative bloc by draping herself in the mantle of patriotism and righteousness and vowing a la Travis that "they shall not pass."

"WE THE PEOPLE," screams her appeal, "must repeal this monstrous Obamacare tax on the middle class and small business owners at a time when our country is hurting economically."

"As your next Congresswoman, I promise to fight towards helping to repeal every word of Obamacare but I need your help! We are fighting to maintain our liberties and fiscally conservative values. Fight this battle with me today and help Friends of Liberty meet our goal of $5000 for this Repeal-Obamacare Money Bomb!"

Now, we all know that even th U.S. Senate cannot reverse a Supreme Court ruling made by a conservative majority. She takes the opportunity to call Adela "a career politician and a lifelong Democrat running in the Republican run-off. We do not need another RINO (Republican in Name Only) in Congress!"

Adela voted for Tony Garza way back then in the 1980s when Bradshaw was trying to put as much distance between herslef and the border and her Hispanic heritage as possible. It was only when it was politically convinient to reclaim her Spanish roots that she dusted off her "Puente" surname. Where was she in the 1980s when the first Republican inroads into the South Texas Democratic Party stronghold were made?

That's why her claim to fame when she asks " Do you want a fighter or a go along-to get along career politician?," rings hollow and false.

About the only time Bradshaw has fought hard is when she is trying to convince the far right fringe of her party to giver her money or to get her elected to office. For those of us who are moderate Democrats and who will ultimately decide as we did with Tony Garza and Carlos Cascos – and as it appears that we will have no viable choice emerging from the Democratic nominating process – the choice is a no-brainer: It's Adela hands down.